We headed to Kingsbury Water parkrun to complete the last of any parkruns in Birmingham. This is in Sutton Coldfield, which they like to not consider as Birmingham but it is in the West Midlands area. We found this to not only be a very beautiful parkrun, but a very friendly one too. Literally everyone greeted us from the moment we got out of the car. Big thanks to regular parkwalker Anne for helping me at the start.
Kingsbury Water Park, Bodymoor Heath, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, B76 0DY
Kingsbury Water parkrun Facilities
Parking nearby you need a bank card for. Also it looked quite busy.
We opted instead at the free parking at pear Tree Avenue. This was a 1km away. Note that initially our route planner told us to walk along way around but there is a cut through.
Toilets near to the start/finish area right by the paid for carpark.
Kingsbury Water parkrun Course
A two lap course. Although it starts on a wide field it did feel like it took a little bit of time to get going and get around everyone. Perhaps we started too far back and in the middle.
Flat and mainly path. It does have some wooded areas which were great for shade on a hot day. Also beautiful views around the lake. Road shoes were perfect on this warm day.
The course has a few bridges but all are sturdy and short. This includes “Stinky bridge” – the weather was kind to us though so it was okay.
The Kingsbury Water parkrun sign is near the finish and not far from the start. We headed over there first to drop off our bag with water in.
Nice grass area to finish on, perfect for a sprint finish.
Kingsbury Water parkrun Stats
- 334 finishers
- 19 volunteers
- 62 tourists.
- 17:07-1:02:02
- 7 sub 20
- 67 25 and under
- 180 sub 30
28 first timers.
Personally
Still not feeling 100% after being bitten by a dog at parkrun with my knee hurting I was proud that I managed to straight run 3km. After that I switched to a 90:30 Jeff.
Ideally I wanted all my parkruns to be sub 30 this year, unless there was a reason for them to be over. Think big hills/courses where everyone is slower – and obviously volunteering as tailwalker for example.
So obviously I was pleased to come in as sub29 on my watch and officially 29m 04s.
Thank you to the young lady who ended up coming in behind me. She just inspired me to keep going. Pleased to see that she took 51 seconds off her PB.
Fair play to first timer Alison putting a shift on in a hoodie (it was hot) as I was doing my sprint finish – to make sure she didn’t let me pass.
Other parkruns nearby I have completed:
Tamworth Castle Grounds parkrun (4.7m), Babbs Mill parkrun (5.4m), Sutton Park parkrun (6.1m), Oaklands parkrun (8.3m), Perry Hall parkrun (9.3m), Beacon parkrun (10.4m), Brueton parkrun (11.1m), Cannon Hill parkrun (11.3m) and Walsall Arboretum parkrun (11.4m).
Visit these other bloggers who cover parkrun: Sarah at Mum of Three World, Jackie at Never Imitate and Chrissy at It’s Me Chrissy J and Nickie at I am Typecast